| 释义 |
prolific, a.|prəʊˈlɪfɪk|
Also 7 -fique.
[ad. med.L. prōlific-us, f. prōl-ēs offspring: see -fic; or ad. F. prolifique (16th c. in Littré).]
1. Generating or producing offspring; generative, reproductive; fertile, not barren.
1650Bulwer Anthropomet. 233 The better portion of the Prolifique Seed flowes down from the Brain and spinal Marrow. 1667Milton P.L. vii. 280 Main Ocean flow'd, not idle, but with warme Prolific humour soft'ning all her Globe. 1691Ray Creation i. (1692) 6 The breed of such Mixtures [of dogs] being prolifick. 1741tr. D'Argens' Chinese Lett. ix. 54 By Misfortune, the prolific Virtue was quite extinct in him. 1881Mivart Cat 8 The domestic cat begins..to reproduce by the end of the first year of her life, and she is prolific to her ninth.
b. Bot. Producing fertile seed.
1828Sir J. E. Smith Eng. Flora II. 100 Pastinaca. Parsnep... Fl. all regular, uniform, perfect, and generally prolific.
2. a. Producing much offspring or fruit; abundantly productive; fruitful. Also fig. of things.
1653Jer. Taylor Serm. for Year I. xxiii. 302 Covetousnesse being..so originall a crime, such a prolifick sin. 1775Johnson Tax. no Tyr. 7 To attack a nation thus prolific. 1794S. Williams Vermont 84 The wolf is a very prolific animal. 1832H. Martineau Brooke Farm viii, We should have no idea how prolific the soil might be made. a1850J. C. Calhoun Wks. (1874) III. 393 The public lands—that prolific source of corruption in the hands of the profligate. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxviii. 283 One of the most prolific bird-colonies of the coast. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 134 Some he made to have few young ones, while those who were their prey were very prolific.
b. Abundantly productive of; abounding in.
1693Pepys in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 213 This age being not very prolifique of customers for such a commodity. 1795G. Wakefield Reply 2nd Pt. Paine 25 Whether ancient times were prolific in such stupid beings as these. 1842J. Wilson Chr. North (1857) I. 141 The heather and the clover were prolific of the honey-dew. 1869Dunkin Midn. Sky 32 This constellation is very prolific in stars of the fourth and fifth magnitudes.
3. Causing abundant production; fertilizing.
1669Gale Crt. Gentiles i. ii. viii. 103 The Sun having such a prolific and powerful influence on al sublunaries. 1727Swift Modest Proposal Wks. 1755 II. ii. 62 Fish being a prolific dyet, there are more children born in roman catholick countries about nine months after Lent. 1738Glover Leonidas ii. 253 By Nile's prolific torrents delug'd o'er. 1858Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims, Pers. Poetry Wks. (Bohn) III. 238 The prolific sun, and the sudden and rank plenty which his heat engenders.
b. Characterized by abundant production; fruitful.
1695Ld. Preston Boeth. Pref. 5 Born in an healthful and prolifick Climate. 1850W. Irving Mahomet, Successors xiii. (1853) 58 The country..was..adapted for the vigorous support and prolific increase of animal life. Mod. This has been a prolific year for apples.
Add:[2.] c. Of a creative artist: producing much work.
1931H. Read Meaning of Art ii. 121 Delacroix was one of the most prolific of painters. 1969J. Gross Rise & Fall Man of Letters v. 132 An astonishingly prolific writer, in his own time Lang enjoyed a dozen different reputations: the collections of fairy tales and the translations of Homer which keep his name current represent only a fraction of his output. 1980‘M. Fonteyn’ Magic of Dance 271 The most successful, and undoubtedly most prolific, house composer was an Italian, Cesare Pugni, with three hundred and twelve ballets to his credit. 1985B. Guest Herself Defined iii. 29 May Sinclair was a prolific novelist whose books sold well. |